Anniversay weekend away!

All that is left of our donuts. We were so excited to eat them that we forgot to take a picture before:)

Travis and I celebrate our 7th anniversary on the 21st of September. Since Travis started school yesterday though I decided to surprise him with a weekend away. Surprised he was!! He was so shocked he scared me a little bit:) Travis thought his mom was coming over to take us out to breakfast Saturday morning. She arrived and then I told him he had 5 minutes to get ready to go. It was so funny to see his face. He just stared at me and was like "what are you talking about." He wasn't sure about the idea at first because he had a lot of little things to do considering we had a Saturday with no plans but he warmed up to the idea fast.
Our first stop was Seattle. We are Food Network junkies and are always seeing all these restaurants on there from Seattle and of course we've never been to any of them so I thought it was time to change that. We started with Lola's for breakfast. It was the best breakfast Travis and I have had. We shared these donut bites that come to your table in a paper bag. They serve them with marscapone vanilla bean cheese and a blackberry jam. So good! The rest of the breakfast was delicious too and we can't wait to go back and have it again!
Across the street from Lola's we checked out the Dhalia bakery which has made it on the Food Network as well. Travis grabbed shortbread muffin with jam for later and I got a chocolate cupcake with chocolate malted butter cream. Yummy! We then walked down to Pike Place and it was such a beautiful day to walk around. The sun was out and it was perfect.
After Pike Place we walked to Pacific Place and looked around a bit. I got a new cell phone which I've needed for some time and we had chips and salsa at this little Mexican restaurant there. Let me tell you, some of the best chips and salsa we've had. The chips were flavored with this yummy lime salt that made them delicious! After our snack we went and saw the movie Julie and Julia. It was pretty good and helped round out our Food Network weekend pretty well:)
I surprised Travis by staying at one of his favorite hotels. The Bellevue Club. This hotel is attached to a high end exercise club which is sooooo nice compared to the Y, and we were excited to work out there. Our first workout we went swimming in the pool, relaxed in the hot tub and sat in the sauna (tough workout:). We then got ready for dinner and hit PF Changs. It was our first time and we really liked the food. Fun atmosphere too. We walked around Bellevue Square which is my favorite mall and Travis got a Starbucks. When we got back into our hotel room we had free champagne waiting for us which was a nice touch.
On Sunday morning, we had breakfast in the room (bread from Great Harvest Bread Company and homemade jam), and then we went and worked out for a few hours. The equipment there was so fun because you could watch TV while running on the treadmill:) We finished off our weekend at Cactus, a Mexican restaurant that Rachael Ray recommends. It was yummy. We had a great weekend away, the kids loved staying here with grandma, and we can't wait to try out some more new restaurants in the near future. My favorite part of the weekend was surprising Travis. He didn't know what I had planned next and I think that was fun for him. Happy Anniversary babe! Here's to 7 years, only 70 more to go:) XOXOXOXO

Seaside Oregon trip

Strawberry chocolate twinkie

Chocolate covered twinkies

Flying a kite!

She wasn't sure about the sand at first, but it didn't take long until she was sitting in it playing with her brother.

Since we got back from Mexico I have been dying to take the kids to the ocean. There is something about watching them play in the sand that is so fun to me. We decided that instead of going to the fair this year Travis would take a day off and we would go for a day trip to the ocean. We were planning our usual trip to Long Beach but decided on Seaside since it was the same drive time to get there. We are so glad we did! Seaside was beautiful! We loved the beach. It was huge so you didn't feel crowded and they even had swing sets for the kids. The weather was great, we actually got a little hot during the day. They have a beautiful promenade to walk along the beach and a really fun town.
We got there and had a picnic lunch and let the kids play in the sand. Then we put Peyton in the backpack and Brayden in the stroller and took a long walk along to the promenade and let the kids take a nap. That worked out well and it was a great way to get some exercise in. Then we walked the town and checked out some of the cool shops. Hate to say it but our favorite one was the candy store. Ok, seriously this place had chocolate covered everything. Twinkies, Nutter Butters, Pop Tarts, and even bacon. We had to try a strawberry chocolate Twinkies that was pretty good. We made it back to the beach after nap to play some more. We played baseball, soccer, made a small sand castle, played in the water, flew a kite, and just relaxed. When we got hungry we hit a restaurant in town for a yummy dinner and then decided to head out. On the way out of town we had to stop at the outlet mall where I found some great deals! As we were leaving town we noticed a lot of traffic and the longer we sat in it the more we realized we weren't going anywhere fast. We turned around and got a hotel room in town later to find out that there was a huge accident and traffic was backed up for hours. So, we were stuck, but had a relaxing evening in the hotel. We can't wait to go back to Seaside someday and maybe this time we'll plan on staying for more then the day:)

Metcalfe Life

Brayden in front of his cubby

This is the last sight I see of Brayden before I leave, he is sitting on the table coloring.

Brayden and Lita ( my mom) on his first day

Brayden at home ready to go on his first day. He kept asking if it was time to go yet. He got up this morning and put his clothes on, brushed his teeth, washed his face and made his bed without me telling him to do it. He was so excited!

All of us in his classroom at the back to school night

It's been awhile since I've done a family update and I think it's time. Life has been busy, but good and it's bitter-sweet that summer is almost gone.
Bryaden started 4-year-old preschool today! It was such a special moment today and it's like my life has done a full circle. Brayden is going to Puget Sound Christian School this year and I went there 4th-7th grade. My mom has been a teacher there for 20+ years and I grew up with Brayden's teacher's children. They were some of my best friends growing up at church. So how weird was it for me today to take him into school and leave him there? He was excited and was happy for me to leave and I can't believe I didn't cry:) I was happy for him, I know he was ready and it's time for this next step in our lives. I think the reason it felt like such a big step was that my normal stay-at-home mommy days will never be the same. No more getting up and planning the day as it goes. But, that's ok too. Peyton and I enjoyed the time together and I got a lot accomplished in 2 1/2 hours. I worked out and did my Costco shopping trip:) Brayden has been talking about starting school for months and says he day at school was fun and can't wait to go back.
A few funny quotes from Brayden: Yesterday I got home from the YMCA and he was already in bed waiting for me to give him a kiss goodnight. He says "Mom, how was your workout?" I say, "It was great Brayden." He says, "I missed you so much while you were gone (I was gone an hour:), can you tuck me up now." Hahaha, instead of tucking into bed he wants to be tucked up:)
- Travis is in the habit of asking me how many calories dinner is since I do the cooking. So yesterday Brayden had to ask too. "Mom, how many calories was my dinner." I told him, and he said "That's pretty good, now I can have a treat:)"
- Peyton is always asking "Where did daddy go." She says it all day until Travis gets home from work. Brayden answered her yesterday and said, "Daddy just got out of an important meeting, ok?" Hahaha, Peyton said "oh."

Peyton is 19 months and is full of energy and fun. She is very adventurous and strong-willed. I spend a lot of time on my knees praying about being her mommy:) She is talking up a storm and loves helping mommy or daddy more than anything (well except for her blankie). She also loves a lot of attention and making people laugh. I'm hoping we can bond a little more with brother being in school 3 days a week.

Travis and I are still trying to loose weight and that in itself keeps us busy. That just means we spend a lot of time working out at the Y and we love it. I've noticed that our family outings have definitely gotten more active. Instead of driving to the park, we are walking or running to it. Instead of a night here at the house, we are going to the local school and running around the track. It's fun and obviously a lot more healthy for us:) This September we are going to be celebrating 7 years of marriage! Travis also starts school in a few weeks. He is going to the UW Tacoma to get his MBA. We're excited for him but also know that will keep us busier than ever. We are still at Renovo church and are loving what God is doing there. We feel lucky to be apart of it. I think that's about it in the Metcalfe house for now....